A public hearing is set to begin Jan. 19 into the death of 33-year-old Myles Gray, who suffered cardiac arrest following an altercation with police in Burnaby in 2015.
The hearing will consider whether the seven Vancouver Police Department officers involved intentionally or recklessly used unnecessary force. It is expected to be one of the longest and most in-depth public hearings ever held by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
Police were initially called to the scene in a Burnaby backyard because of reports that Gray was acting erratically and had sprayed a woman with a garden hose. Three officers responded and were joined by four more. A six-minute-long struggle ensued.
During the confrontation, Gray sustained injuries that included bleeding in his brain and testes, damage to the cartilage in his throat, dense bruising and lacerations, and fractures to his nose, right eye socket and third right rib.
Gray lost consciousness twice after being put in handcuffs and did not wake up after the second time. He died from cardiac arrest at the scene.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a report recommending criminal charges against officers involved.
The B.C. Prosecution Service declined to lay the charges, saying in a Dec. 16, 2020, news release that the available evidence did not meet the charge assessment standard. Instead, a closed-door police disciplinary procedure and a separate B.C. Coroners Inquest were held.
A coroners inquest is not supposed to determine wrongdoing, only how a death occurred. The jury opted to classify Gray’s death as a homicide.
The police disciplinary hearing was overseen by Delta police Chief Neil Dubord, who found that no misconduct occurred.
But Dubord also said the process was “strangely lopsided” because it only allowed the police who were alleged to have committed misconduct to call witnesses. And he said there were “discrepancies and inconsistencies” in the officers’ statements.
On Oct. 29, 2024, Gray’s family requested the Police Complaint Commissioner hold a public hearing.
Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan granted that request a month later, on Nov. 27, 2024.
Rajan has directed the hearing consider whether the police officers involved abused their authority by using unnecessary force, or neglected their duty, by failing to take proper notes afterward.
The hearing is set to begin on Jan. 19 and last 10 weeks. Retired B.C. Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey will act as the adjudicator.